As the rather short, muscular man walked towards our hero, Fang Hu scanned him, and wasn't impressed. The man, while being much more jacked than he was, was only in the 2nd stage of Qi Gathering. His only technique was the war club version of the basic qi reinforcement that the entire tribe seemed to know. It seemed like they were playing with him. Normally, he would be afraid of them playing with him, but there are limits to everything. No, that was what Fang Hu believed was happening, but he was wrong. What was happening was the system's interference. No, the system didn't interfere with his emotions or anything super cliché. This was a result of both the systems powers and techniques.

You see, Hu had the impression that he would instantly gain the ability to sense things like 'fighting spirit' or 'killing intent'. He was wrong on that account, or rather he was right for the wrong reasons. Although there are people with abilities such as those, you do not get them 'automatically'. Rather, Fang Hu severely underestimated one of his system gifted powers. He thought the power 'understanding' would be helpful in understanding the intent behind the flowery words that were always in cultivation techniques. While that is true, it is SO much more helpful than that. The description, "You are now able to tell the intent of what someone wrote, said, or did." is much too vague. What it means is, as long as Fang Hu is aware of it, and it was caused by a sentient, Fang Hu can tell why they did it. This power is, although limited, a form of omniscience, as long as one doesn't have the power to resist the system that is.

Fang Hu didn't 'feel' like most of the crowd was looking down on him, he 'felt' them doing it. He felt mocked, while he was feeling mocked, his opponent finally arrived in front of him. He was radiating a pompous air. That didn't bother him as much as it was supposed to, because under it all Fang Hu could tell this mob character was acting with killing intent.

'Well, that doesn't matter, Wo-Kong said he would stop the matches if they were to get deadly. I need to calm do-'

"Here's hopin' ya don't get to hurt here huh? Ya giant pansy-ass kid!"

*... I'm going to end you, ya two-bit punk.*

"Of course, I need to be able to send your family my condolences."

What followed next was what always happens when two parties insult one another in a cultivation world...

///

"Seeing as how the contestants have properly greeted each other, let the match... BEGIN!"

On my mark, Ho Fan charged towards Fang Hu, the latter simply dropping into a defensive stance. Seeing how Fang Hu fights should be interesting. Depending on what techniques he uses I'll know if he's lying about being from outside Verdant Plains. Our tribe has seen fighting styles from leagues 'round.

Oh, interesting was an understatement, even when Fan swung his club at Hu's head, Hu barely dodged at all. Despite that, his club didn't even graze Fang Hu. The adolescent then used his large reach advantage to land a solid blow towards Ho Fan's chest. Before Fan was even able to register the sounds of his ribs cracking, Fang Hu had shifted into a kneeling stance and delivered an open palm strike on Ho Fan's chin. The fact that Fan's head vibrated much more than it should have, and that neither strike knocked Fan back even an inch, where clear signs that qi was used in the attacks.

Seeing as how Ho Fan dropped like a sack of potatoes, Wo-Kong spoke to the stunned audience.

"It seems Ho Fan was unable to challenge the challenger! Is there anyone else stronger willing to Face Fang Hu? We will take people stubraver than Ho Fan as well!"

Wo-Kong's strong voice stirred the audience. Cries for challengers to face the young cultivator competed with cheers for the battle completed. Fang Hu was not able to differentiate much from the cheers that separated them from before. He was, however, able to tell that the tribe, as a whole, took him a lot more seriously.