Li Daozhe waved his hand in dismissal of his son's lack of patience, "You had been brash indeed, but it is also good to teach the Ma a lesson. We need to let them realize that without the Li, House of Ma means nothing. You should have thanked your sister; she had handled things better than you this time. Ma had agreed to order their daughter to return to Capth, and that means they had felt the pressure."
"Do you mean that Uncle Ma has agreed to marry Xiaoru to me?"
"Maybe, or maybe not. Ma had already made a compromise, so I cannot afford to pressure them further. The rest is all up to you. Look to your sister for help if you need it. Ruoer is a rebellious girl, but she knows the right from wrong better than you do."
"Yes, father. I will handle it with Ruoer as soon as I come back from Norton."
Li Daozhe watched his son calmly and then said "You have done the right thing. Have you ever thought why our household's influence is weakening as we speak? It is because we had become out of touch with reality and what's going on outside our comfortable bubble. I am glad you didn't make the same mistake as I did. Go now; I will wait for your good news."
"Understood, father. I am honored."
Li Daozhe nodded, and he gestured his son out of his study.
The house of Li might appear that they were only slightly less active than the time of General Li, but that appearance was far from the truth. They had not only lost all of its edge over the other great houses, but it was also on the brink of losing their most important ally, the Ma. Li Daozhe had achieved the status of Einherjar, yet, his mismanagement had eventually eroded the influence of his family to its lowest.
Since Einherjar Wannabe had chosen Lie Jian as his opponent, the match had piqued the interests of the Kaedians as they wanted to study Lie Jian's Art of Soaring Heaven further.
A tough choice laid in front of Lie Jian. Should he accept the challenge and win the battle, it would substantially boost his family's reputation, but should it be any other case, he would become a laughing stock.
Lie Jian's nickname was 'brute.' It was a name given by his earth and Ivantian counterparts due to his uncouth and brash actions that were the paragon of Martian traditions.
Nonetheless, Lie Jian was not dumb by any stretch of imagination. He initially wanted to cause some trouble for Li Shiming, but he didn't expect the latter to just ignore him and then Lie Jian ending up shooting himself in the foot as he received a challenge invitation from Einherjar Wannabe.
Ever since Lie Jian lost the match against Li Shiming, he had been training extra hard, biding his time to regain his honor in a rematch.
It occurred to Lie Jian that perhaps Einherjar Wannabe's challenge was the moment that he had been waiting for.
After thinking about it for a while, he decided to accept the media's interview. He had announced that he had taken Einherjar Wannabe's challenge. As a fighter and a martian, he would face any difficulty with mettle, unlike certain cowards on earth.
The news of Li Jian's reply went viral. Soon, Lie Jian had chosen a close family member as his champion to fight in the battle with Einherjar Wannabe. His name was Lie Wushuang.
Lie Wushuang was Lie Jian's cousin. As the number one fighter of the Lie family, he mostly kept to himself when he was not on a battlefield. He was a fourth-year student, but he had already been serving the military.
Lie Jian's decision of letting Lie Wushuang be his champion was a smart move before he fully understood the strength of his opponent. It not only reduced his risk of failure, but also saved his reputation. He had ordered Lie Wushuang to be ruthless in the battle and to teach this ballsy Einherjar Wannabe a lesson that he would never forget.
During the meeting with the media, Lie Jian pointed his finger directly at the Li Family, saying that the Li famil
y should have stood up and fought this pretender, Einherjar Wannabe. After all, the Li family had been the Blade Warrior's closest ally. He went even further to say that he had mistaken the Li family's rank for its mettle and suggested that the Li had become weak.
Lie Jian's plan was clear: he would test Einherjar Wannabe's ability with his cousin, and use this as an opportunity to put pressure on the Li, continuing building the atmosphere for a rematch with Li Shiming. The more aggressive Lie Jian acted towards Einherjar Wannabe, more the credibility of the Li Family would erode.
Lie Wushuang would obey Lie Jian’s order and give all he had during the battle with Einherjar Wannabe. Lie Jian's dominance over the younger generation was not due to his purer bloodline, but because of his strength as a fighter.
Everyone was elated by the news of the battle. Should Einherjar Wannabe be able to defeat both Lie Wushuang and later, Lie Jian, the outcome would pose a significant question to the world: who the hell was Einherjar Wannabe? To make the matter more perplexing, the mysterious fighter was only 16 years old.
The battle was arranged on the weekend. After reading the message, Wang Tong was happy. It didn't matter which Lie accepted his challenge, as long as they knew how to use the Tactics of the Blaze. He hoped that Lie Wushuang was strong enough to evoke the cold GN force inside him, so he could learn to control it.
After Wang Tong confirmed the battle, he started to mull over another decision he had to make.
Ever since the school had announced the Confederation's new edict of recruiting students to Norton, the students had been extremely reluctant in responding. Wang Tong understood where they were coming from. After all, even Wang Tong would never want to return to that hellish destitute planet. However, the school needed an icebreaker to break the chain by being the first one to volunteer.
Wang Tong never thought about the politics behind the edicts, but he knew that experience on Norton would aid the study in the future. The students would have an entirely different attitude towards school and training after being baptized in the war.
Although Wang Tong had already gained his fair share of experience with the Zergs, he was still attracted by one specific reward: it would be easier for him to get into a fleet when he graduated, should he be a volunteer.
Without any prestigious family background, Wang Tong knew that he had to grasp any advantage that he could reach to compete with the princelings of the Confederation.
Charcoal was bustling about in Wang Tong's room, helping him clean and tidy up the place.
"Ojisan, do you think I should volunteer?"
Mr. Wannabe's eyes were glued to the TV, laughing from time to time. He had been enjoying his Ojisan life and had no brain cells left for Wang Tong's trouble
"If you want to." Mr. Wannabe answered casually.
Wang Tong knew that he would not be able to get an answer from Mr. Wannabe. He had already made up his mind, and he had decided to enlist himself, not just for the reward, but also to help Samantha. For some reason, the thought of Samantha tugged at Wang Tong's heart.
The next day, Wang Tong had announced his decision to the S club. As the model to Ayrlarng's students, Wang Tong was no less influential than Samantha. So, Wang Tong's decision had motivated every student in Ayrlarng.
Students were passionate, if not irrational. They would act on a whim as long as someone gave them motivation.
As soon as Wang Tong decided to go to Norton, the other students started to reconsider their decisions. Apache at Bernabeu had already volunteered himself, but Wang Tong's application needed to be approved since he was still a first-year student.
The most sensational news relate to the edict was that Li Shiming had also decided to be a volunteer. He didn't choose to serve the fleet as a perfunctory demonstration of his 'bravery' like most people had expected. Instead, he had chosen to join the ground troops where it was the most dangerous.
It had been a while since anyone from the Great House experienced the life as a foot soldier.
Even if it was a show, it was a very risky nonetheless.
In Ayrlarng, more and more students followed Wang Tong's lead and enlisted themselves every day.