Chapter 233: Chapter 119: The Competition Ends

That morning, after taking Qin Rui to the high-speed rail station and watching her train depart, Zhao Rui drove back to the Martial Arts Training Base.

The competition was still in full swing.

However, the number of contestants at the base had clearly dwindled. Most of the students who had lost their matches had already left to go home for summer vacation.

Only a small number chose to stay and continue watching the remaining matches.

Upon entering the base, the first thing Zhao Rui did was head over to his school’s team.

Wang Dalong’s match was currently underway.

His opponent was a veteran Level 10 powerhouse with profound Inner Strength and an extraordinary Cultivation Technique.

But Wang Dalong’s Dragon Subduing Palm was just as shockingly powerful, and it had the trait of growing stronger against tougher opponents, making him incredibly resilient.

The two were well-matched, giving the audience a spectacular and thrilling fight.

After a hard-fought battle, Wang Dalong ultimately secured victory by a narrow margin.

As the number of contestants decreased, the number of powerhouses increased.

Naturally, the matches became more and more exciting to watch.

The stands now held noticeably more unfamiliar faces compared to the earlier rounds.

Among them were scouts from various clubs and staff from the association.

There were even people from the entertainment, film, and television industries.

Excel in martial arts, and you can become an actor, after all!

The National University Martial Dao Tournament wasn’t just a venue for competition. It was also a place to discover future top stars in the entertainment world and the launching pad where many young men and women began their journey to fame.

The latter half of the competition used a points system. Winners would emerge from their groups to enter the top ten, from which the champion, runner-up, and third-place winner would be decided.

The top three from the provincial competition would get a direct pass to the national repechage, skipping the first elimination round.

The subsequent matches were all part of the points competition. After a week of fierce fighting, two contestants from Dongda had made it into the top ten based on points.

One was Wang Dalong. The other, surprisingly, was Luo Min.

This came as a huge surprise to everyone.

Cai Zhengyang, who was stronger than her, had unfortunately lost to the currently recognized strongest contestant of the tournament: Li Ru from Ocean University.

This contestant not only had outstanding talent and a remarkable Cultivation Technique, but had also advanced to the True Transformation Realm at an early age.

As for Shen Xinzhu, she had run into Wang Dalong in the same group and was unfortunately defeated.

Regarding Shen Xinzhu, although they had gotten along well after the tsunami incident, he always felt that there was something mysterious about her.

Her Cultivation Technique consisted of ordinary Martial Arts, but every single move she made could unleash exceptional power.

Zhao Rui had sparred with her before, and even the Martial Arts his System could copy showed nothing special.

But it was precisely for this reason that Zhao Rui found her all the more mysterious.

’But everyone has their secrets. As long as it doesn’t involve me, I have no reason or right to pry.’

At this stage of the competition, the overall outcome was more or less set. The remaining contestants were all guaranteed a spot in the national tournament.

It was just a matter of a direct qualification spot. Some people didn’t care about their provincial ranking, preferring to hide their true strength so they could pull a surprise upset in the finals.

Others were afraid of getting injured and would also choose to fight conservatively.

Just as the Martial Artist Realm competition was drawing to a close, the Grandmaster Realm competition kicked off.

If the contestants in the Martial Artist Realm competition were the cream of the crop, then the students in the Grandmaster Realm were truly heaven’s chosen.

To advance to the Grandmaster Realm before senior year required not only talent and diligence, but also a great deal of luck.

Across the more than one hundred universities and colleges in the entire province, having three or four students reach the Grandmaster Realm in a year was already considered excellent.

Therefore, most of the Grandmaster Realm contestants who came already knew each other and had sparred in private.

They were mostly just going through the motions here. The real showdown would be at the national or even international tournaments.

Zhao Rui watched a few matches from the audience below but found them dull and uninteresting. Not only were they far less exciting than the top-ten matches of the Martial Artist Realm, but they also lacked any real fighting spirit.

Even his fight with Peng Yuanshan had been more vivid and dramatic.

After watching a few matches, Zhao Rui lost interest. ’I practice Martial Arts, but not for the sake of competing.’

’This competition is just a unique experience on my path to the peak of the Martial Dao.’

’Completely optional!’

“Finding it a bit boring?”

Wang Zhanshan, who had come with him, said with a smile.

“Yeah. Coach, when did you reach the Grandmaster Realm? Were you like this back then?”

Zhao Rui asked.

“Back then? I was nineteen, about the same as you. I never went to college. I trained by traveling all over the country with my master.”

“Later, my master passed away. My grandmaster—well, that would be Elder Ge—brought me to Mingcan Courtyard, and I’ve been here ever since.”

“Competitions were different back then. It was real fighting. Later… well, a few incidents happened, so they changed the rules and kicked the Grandmaster Realm out of the scope of professional tournaments…”

Listening to Wang Zhanshan’s nostalgic reply, Zhao Rui fell silent.

“Alright, don’t overthink it. Just go get me that national championship next year.”

Wang Zhanshan said with a laugh.

“I’m afraid I might not even get to participate next year…”

“Bah! Bah!”

Wang Zhanshan quickly cut him off before striding out of the competition venue.

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

The provincial competition finally reached its finale. The champion and runner-up would be decided today.

Two top-tier Martial Artists would compete for the final ranking.

To everyone’s surprise, Luo Min was one of them.

Never mind Zhao Rui—even Wang Zhanshan and the others could never have imagined that Luo Min would be one of the last ones standing.

They had all trained together for so long; how could they not know the extent of Luo Min’s strength?

But in every match, even when Luo Min was clearly outmatched, she would always manage to counter-attack from the brink of defeat, erupting with a strength far beyond her usual level.

For this match, not only had many eliminated contestants returned to watch, but so had the families and friends of the competitors, along with many Martial Dao enthusiasts.

The Martial Arts Dojo, large enough to hold over ten thousand people, was packed to the rafters. Giant screens broadcasted the live event.

There were even cheerleaders and a host on stage.

The spectacle was completely different from before.

“This is the stage I’ve always dreamed of!”

Cai Zhengyang’s eyes were filled with envy.

“Just do your best in the nationals!”

Wang Dalong, standing beside him, wasn’t feeling any better. The two were like brothers in misfortune.

They had been the unrivaled stars of the team, but they never expected to be surpassed by Luo Min in the end.

“Zhao Rui, I’m over here!”

In the rest area, Zhao Rui heard the voice and turned to see Yang Fan waving at him from the stands.

Before the match, Zhao Rui had gotten a call from Yang Fan. The guy had talked himself hoarse to finally convince his girlfriend to come to Jeju to watch Luo Min’s final.

Besides him, quite a few of their high school classmates had also come to show their support.

Zhao Rui greeted them in advance on Luo Min’s behalf.

“See? I told you Zhao Rui is a Level 8 Powerhouse. Look, he’s sitting over there in the rest area. That’s where the team members and coaches stay.”

Yang Fan said proudly.

“So what if he’s Level 8? What does that have to do with you? You’re just a Level 3 scrub!”

Tian Lili said with contempt.

Yang Fan’s eyelid twitched. His desire to keep talking instantly vanished. He slumped back into his seat, and the world before him turned gray.

“Hey, handsome. Looks like you know someone on the team down there!”

Just then, a pretty young woman next to him suddenly spoke with a smile.

“Me?”

“Yes, you! I’m talking to you!”

The woman’s smile was enchanting, like a paintbrush adding a splash of color to Yang Fan’s gray world.

“Yeah, he’s a high school classmate of mine. And see? The girl on the stage is also my high school classmate…”

Yang Fan felt as if this woman before him was the most important confidant in his life, someone from whom he could hide nothing.

Just then, a crisp SMACK echoed as Tian Lili slapped Yang Fan squarely across the face.

After delivering the slap, Tian Lili stood up and stormed out of the venue in a huff.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize your girlfriend was right there.”

“It’s fine!”

“How could she treat you like that? Does it hurt? I have some ointment for bruises, let me put some on for you!”

As she spoke, the woman moved right into Tian Lili’s seat.

She then took out a small tube of ointment from her purse and gently dabbed it onto Yang Fan’s face.

Yang Fan’s gaze grew increasingly hazy. Nothing else existed in his eyes.

There was only the woman’s beautiful face and her gentle touch.

After a moment, the world seemed to swim back into focus.

“My name is Yun’Er. What’s yours? How about I be your girlfriend?”

“Okay. I’m Yang Fan.”

While Yang Fan was experiencing his romantic misfortune down in the stands, the match on the stage finally began as the lights came up.

Luo Min’s opponent was none other than Li Ru, the man previously recognized by all as the number one Martial Artist.

“I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a girl,”

Li Ru said coldly.

“I can’t stand guys like you. Why don’t you try winning first before you talk big!”

The moment the two stepped on stage, the air was thick with tension.

After a brief touch of hands, they immediately launched into a furious assault.

Luo Min was only Level 9, a whole Realm below Li Ru. Moreover, this Li Ru was a genius on the same level as Wang Dalong.

His attainments in Martial Arts were profound, and his aptitude was exceptional.

In no time at all, Luo Min was forced onto the defensive.

“With skills like these, how did you beat everyone else? Did you use a honey trap?”

Li Ru’s name might have the character for ’scholar’ in it, but his words were anything but refined.

“You’ve got a nasty mouth!”

Luo Min dodged his whip kick, leaping into the air. Suddenly, her fingers blurred into afterimages, like fleshless finger bones exuding a faint sharpness.

’This Martial Arts style?’

Zhao Rui’s eyes widened slightly as he watched Luo Min’s sudden change in Martial Arts.

’What kind of Cultivation Technique is this!’

Zhao Rui was stunned. He had never seen such a phantom-like Finger Technique before.

“Flowery Fist and Embroidered Legs!”

Li Ru sneered, instantly cutting in through the center and aiming for Luo Min’s vital points.

“I’m going to tear that mouth of yours apart!”

Luo Min’s eyes turned cold. Her figure flickered, and she attacked Li Ru with incredibly fast hands.

It was as if her hands had transformed into countless afterimages.

RIP! RIP!

With the sound of tearing fabric, several rips appeared on Li Ru’s sleeves and shirt.

They looked as if they had been slashed by a sharp weapon.

Li Ru’s pupils widened. He hadn’t been able to clearly see Luo Min’s movements just now.

If his instincts hadn’t been so fast, it wouldn’t have been just his clothes that were damaged.

“What’s wrong? Not so arrogant now?”

Luo Min sneered.

“A warning to both contestants! Any more trash talk that disrupts the match will result in a point deduction!”

Fortunately, the referee put a stop to their trash talk in time.

Li Ru tensed his entire body, his eyes locked on Luo Min, not missing a single one of her movements.

Luo Min gave a beautiful smile as the afterimages of her hands reappeared, and she suddenly attacked Li Ru again.

’She’s even faster?’

Li Ru was horrified. He strained his eyes to their limit, dodging left and right, desperately evading her sharp claws whose trajectories he couldn’t follow.

“SCHLICK!”

A spray of blood erupted!

Li Ru let out a pained cry and retreated explosively, simultaneously clamping a hand over his mouth.

A trickle of blood slowly seeped through the cracks between his fingers.

Seeing this, the referee rushed forward to stop the match!

“I concede!”

Li Ru raised his hand, his expression full of resentment.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep