Chapter 408 - Rules, Temptation, Shinto! (1/2)

Sakra sat quietly in the silent cottage. His hands were placed casually on his knees, but he gave out a meticulous and orderly feeling.

Quiet, peaceful, and without the arrogance of the majority of the martial artists in Sacred Martial Hall. Sakra looked like an actual university professor. It would be difficult for people who were not familiar with him to label him as the head of the Criminal Law Department.

Qin Fen walked out of the bedroom calmly and took out a can of vitamin water from the refrigerator, placing it on the table as a show of hospitality, “Hello, please wait for a moment.”

Qin Fen turned and walked into the bathroom, splashing his face with cold water as he finished his daily wake-up routine of washing up before sitting firmly on the sofa.

Sakra was still silent as his purple eyes sized up Qin Fen gently again. When observed closely, this young man really is unique.

Whether it be inside or outside the Sacred Martial Hall, there were not many martial artists who knew the name Sakra Aziya that could remain silent after seeing him.

Sakra was used to seeing martial artists who showed great enthusiasm after being shocked, and also those who acted as if they didn’t care but were actually the act-cool type of people who were actually very nervous and excited on the inside. However, he rarely ever saw young people like Qin Fen.

He was not arrogant nor worried, as if the person sitting in front of him was not a Head of Department of the Sacred Martial Hall, but a common martial artist who came to the door.

Sakra could feel Qin Fen’s blood flow and the speed of his heartbeat. Besides being slightly surprised when he first heard ‘Sakra Aziya’, his performance was always full of calmness.

No! Sakra shook his head gently and vetoed his own words. This young man’s performance was not calm but was truly indifferent.

Sakra nodded slightly. His purple eyes showed a bit of admiration. Such a young man is indeed rare. Whether it be his mentality, or martial arts foundation and speed of growth, or his combat ability, they were all impressive, very impressive!

Qin Fen, who was stared at by Sakra for a long time, became a little anxious. What is this person here for? Why is he just nodding without saying anything?

“Young man.” Sakra suddenly broke the silence, “I have heard of your name and have observed you. You are very impressive. In the history of Sacred Martial Hall, you are almost the best newcomer.”

Qin Fen lowered his head down a little, smiling politely without speaking. Sakra Aziya, the head of the Criminal Law Department in Sacred Martial Hall. This martial arts master, or a Grandmaster-level figure, would never be too free and just come over to praise a newcomer who had just entered Sacred Martial Hall for no reason.

There must be something! There must be something! Qin Fen remembered what the psychology master, Squad Leader Hao, had once said, When you don’t understand what the other party is thinking, just smile at him and don’t say anything, hide your own cards. As long as it’s the other party who is looking for you, he will have to find a way to talk about the incident. You don’t need to worry about why the other party is not talking, and you don’t have to worry about the other party leaving without saying anything.

Sakra Aziya looked at Qin Fen’s polite smile and blanked out for a moment. In the past, which martial artist who was praised by him not ecstatic? They would even be hypocritically modest. But this young man didn’t even look ecstatic, let alone show hypocritical modesty.

Is it arrogance? No! Aziya looked at Qin Fen’s eyes and knew that the young man did not agree with his praise. It was not because he thought that praise was not enough, but because he didn’t think of himself as a genius. There was no humility and no arrogance at all, everything was in a stable and calm mentality.

“What do you think of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall?”

Sakra threw out another question. His purple eyes became sharp for a moment, staring straight into the eyes of Qin Fen’s as if to reach into the deepest part of his heart.

“Inner Sacred Martial Hall?” Qin Fen thought for a while and said very seriously, “I haven’t had much contact with Inner Sacred Martial Hall. On the surface, they are really outstanding.”

Sakra’s expression showed obviously that he was slightly stunned and that this answer was somewhat unexpected. The relationship between the Inner Sacred Martial Hall and Qin Fen had gotten a little tense in just a few days; he even ended up killing two Sacred Martial Hall martial artists.

It would not be an overstatement to say that this relationship was like everyone lashing out with cynicism in all directions.

Outstanding? Sakra stared into Qin Fen’s eyes for a few seconds, making sure that the young man was not being cynical and was only saying his true opinion.

Outstanding… Sakra’s purple eyes were a bit bitter. The martial artists in the Inner Sacred Martial Hall had always been of outstanding quality, there was no doubt about it. It was a pity that when these outstanding people met this unbelievable young man, it was as if they all became mediocre martial artists overnight.

Sakra regulated his emotions and asked again, “If you join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall and get support from the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, do you think your progress in martial arts will be faster or slower?”

“Faster.” Qin Fen did not even think and answered immediately, “It will be much faster!”

A bit of pride flashed across Sakra’s purple eyes, and he reassessed Qin Fen again. This was already the fifth time he had reassessed Qin Fen after entering the room in such a short amount of time.

Every time he assessed Qin Fen, Aziya found another positive point on Qin Fen. After several rounds of scrutiny, his perception of this young man who had entered and despised the Sacred Martial Hall, as well as refused to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, had changed drastically.

Big-hearted, stable, calm, dedicated, no impetuousness, and no arrogance. Even toward opponents who he had defeated before, he was able to give a pertinent and objective evaluation.

Sakra nodded repeatedly. The martial arts road was full of countless accidents and possibilities, but if these accidents and possibilities were tossed aside, this young man’s martial dao achievements might be incredibly high.

“Sacred Martial Hall has its own rules.” Sakra said slowly once again, “This rule cannot be broken regardless of who you are. No matter how astounding a martial artist’s martial dao talent is, we can’t let him have the identity of an Outer Sacred Martial Hall basic type while enjoying the resources of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall.”

Qin Fen nodded quietly. Bai Sheng had talked about this situation before. The Sacred Martial Hall was a huge organization. Its strength and influence were definitely not limited to one such small island. If they broke the rules of many years for one young person, the Sacred Martial Hall would not be praised as a saga, but instead a sacred land of martial arts that had bowed to a young martial artist.

If that happened, the Sacred Martial Hall would become a huge stepping stone for the fame of the other party.

There were many ways to be famous in the martial dao world. One of the quickest ways was to kill a divine beast martial artist. Another way was to win against Sacred Martial Hall single-handedly.

If these two things couldn’t be done, using other methods to let divine beast martial artists or the Sacred Martial Hall bow to them would also help one gain great fame instantly.

This way, there would also be huge benefits besides fame!

“Sacred Martial Hall is the heart and blood of countless people.” Qin Fen repeated Bai Sheng’s words slowly, “If you bow to someone, it’s a disrespect to the martial artists who have spilled their blood for the Sacred Martial Hall.”

Sakra agreed with a slight nod, the hardships behind Sacred Martial Hall having today’s reputation was not something that could be seen by outsiders.

To many of the young martial artists from Outer Sacred Martial Hall, Qin Fen not being given any privileges despite being so prominent meant that Sacred Martial Hall was too impersonal and too proud. But if one were to really say this out loud, it would be equivalent to destroying a part of the Sacred Martial Hall’s spirit.

The rules can’t be broken! Sakra nodded forcefully. As the head of the Criminal Law Department, he had to implement all the regulations firmly! The Criminal Law Department was the place that maintained the rules of Sacred Martial Hall!

“It’s good that you know.” Sakra stopped nodding, staring at Qin Fen with both his eyes, “Young man, whether or not you admit it, you are indeed the best newcomer I have ever seen! Not one of them, you are the only one.”

Qin Fen felt a little bewildered. Bai Sheng once said the other night that Sakra, the head of the Criminal Law Department was not only an extremely conceited person but also an extremely stingy person.

His stinginess was not toward money and goods nor was it toward martial arts experience, but it was toward praising people. He was infamous in Sacred Martial Hall for being stingy and was the complete opposite of Ferrero, who would praise you if he saw that you have talent.

For such a stingy person to give compliments repeatedly, even Qin Fen felt a little proud.

“But…” Sakra’s tone switched, “The rules of Sacred Martial Hall can’t be broken. You of the basic Outer Sacred Martial Hall cannot get any resources from the Inner Sacred Martial Hall no matter how talented you are.”

Qin Fen smiled faintly and nodded. He already knew this about this a long time ago, why bother to emphasize on it constantly?

Sakra looked at the coffee table silently, and once again raised his head slowly to look at Qin Fen. His gaze showed off his cherishing emotion, “Young man, don’t waste yourself. On the road of martial arts, you have unlimited possibilities. Since the basic Outer Sacred Martial Hall can’t give you more and since you know that the Inner Sacred Martial Hall can make your martial arts progress faster, why go against yourself?”

Qin Fen took a few seconds to fully understand what the Criminal Law Department Sakra was here for. He was here to do the persuasion work that was supposed to be done by Asura of the Department of Military Affairs.

“Sacred Martial Hall has a lot of rules, one of which is that martial artists of the basic Outer Sacred Martial Hall have the right to propose a change of contract. As long as the change of contract exam is passed, the martial artist can then become a true martial artist of the Inner Sacred Martial Hall”

The more he talked, the more excited Sakra became till he clasped his hands he had placed on his knees unwittingly, “There is no problem with your abilities, so the contract exam should be easy for you!”

Qin Fen wasn’t used to seeing Sakra’s enthusiasm. This Aziya whom Bai Sheng had said to always show a sour face to everyone and was even the fiercest Head of Department in opposing him in meetings was so enthusiastic and excited today. It seemed that he still had a very fair heart.

Otherwise, with Sakra’s position as the Head of Department, there was absolutely no need for him to lower himself to come to a newcomer’s room alone to analyze and reason so much.

“This…” Qin Fen raised his hand and scratched his head.

A trace of doubt flashed across Aziya’s eyes, then a bright light shone through it, “I know, I know what you are worried about. According to Sacred Martial Hall’s rules, Sacred Martial Hall has a rule that before the assessment, the assessors have the power to reject the applicant’s application. Are you worried that your application will be rejected because of your previous attitude? It’s ok! Go and apply! If someone really wants to exercise his right to reject, I will also support you to the end.”

Qin Fen looked at Aziya, flabbergasted. The true emotions of Head of Department, Sakra was truly exposed now. There was a bit of genuine child-like happiness. He was sincerely looking forward to him joining the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. He was genuinely looking forward to the rise of a young martial artist!

Qin Fen could not help but feel a few points of admiration for his thoughts and his previous bad impression of this Head of Department had long vanished.

“You may have misunderstood.” Qin Fen tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, fearing that he would hurt the enthusiasm of the kindhearted senior, “I am not afraid of being rejected. I really don’t want to join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall. The restrictions in the contract are too much…”

Sakra felt like a basin of cold water had been poured onto the top of his head. His face was filled with countless questions, “What’s wrong with those restrictions? Qin Fen, you are the most talented newcomer I have ever seen. As long as you join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall, you will definitely be able to enter the Secret Art Pavilion freely! Don’t you want to enter the Secret Art Pavilion again? Don’t tell me that you look down on the Secret Art Pavilion? Don’t waste your martial arts talent in the Outer Sacred Martial Hall! Join the Inner Sacred Martial Hall.”

Secret Art Pavilion? Qin Fen’s eyes brightened suddenly. He hadn’t even finished his arranging and induction, yet he had already gotten a lot of inspiration from it. These inspirations were enough for a year or even years of perseverance, and was definitely a sacred land that martial artists dream of!

Sakra was staring excitedly at Qin Fen. His words were full of motivation, even the salesmen on TV were inferior in front of him.

“Secret Art Pavilion, Secret Art Pavilion…” Qin Fen whispered a few times, and the longing light in his eyes subsided a little. He raised his head again and looked at Sakra, “Senior, I really hope to re-enter the Secret Art Pavilion. However, I am sorry, I can’t join the Sacred Martial Hall just to enter the Secret Art Pavilion.”

“Why?” Sakra’s confused expression was now a little anxious. If such a promising young man were to ruin his future because of this, it would likely be his lifelong regret!