Chapter 81: Chapter 54: Sophomore? Part 2

Zeng Hongyi leaned down slightly, looking at each of them in turn. He clapped his hands and said, “Everyone, get your spirits up! You’re all his seniors; you have to set an example for Zhao Rui! Come on, let’s do this!”

After he finished speaking, Zeng Hongyi went around and high-fived everyone, cheering them on.

Seeing that their expressions were still a bit dazed, as if they hadn’t yet processed the fact that they were actually going to compete, Zhao Rui stood up and walked over to the five of them.

“Hey everyone, what are we so nervous about? The other team should be the ones who are nervous.”

Everyone froze for a moment, then turned to look at him.

“Think about it. We’re not very good, and you think they don’t know that?”

Hearing this, they all shot him unfriendly glares.

“See? If we lose, it’s expected. If we win, they’re the ones who’ll lose face. What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s just go for it!”

“What’s the worst that can happen? We die… ahem.”

“Hmph!”

Qin Rui scoffed, her pretty face turning scarlet.

“Er, well, you get the idea. Haha. Come on, come on, let’s go!”

With that, Zhao Rui extended his hand, holding it flat in the center of their circle.

Zhang Kui and Li Xinran nodded, placing their hands on his. Qin Rui and the other male student followed.

Cao Guannan glanced at the others, his eyes narrowing as a fierce glint flashed within them, and then placed his hand on top of the pile.

“Let’s fuck ’em up!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

Even Qin Rui softly echoed the cheer.

Zeng Hongyi watched from the side as the six of them rallied together, oblivious to their surroundings. He was a bit stunned. ’I never would have thought that the core of this six-person group would be Zhao Rui, a freshman.’

’Interesting!’

’Win or lose, at least the team’s spirit isn’t broken.’

Zeng Hongyi couldn’t help but feel a great sense of relief.

Just as they finished their pep talk and emerged from the locker rooms, the acting referee stepped onto the platform and announced the official start of the Martial Dao exchange.

“The first match: Li Xinran of Dongqi University versus Pang Junze of Dongqi Academy of Arts and Sports.”

As the referee announced the names, Li Xinran walked onto the platform, buoyed by the encouraging looks and cheers of her team.

At the same time, her opponent also stepped onto the platform. He was a stocky young man, about five-foot-seven, whose frame was packed with sinewy muscle, giving him a formidable appearance.

The two opponents saluted each other with cupped fists. At the sound of the whistle, the match officially began.

Both fighters were cautious at the start, pulling back their Force before their techniques fully extended. Their main focus was on probing each other’s defenses.

After a few exchanges, the stocky young man had sized her up. His expression hardened. Instantly, his arms moved as if drawing a bow. His right hand clenched into a fist, gathering power, while his left arm was held vertically along the centerline of his body, knuckles facing out. He looked like a ferocious tiger descending a mountain, waiting to pounce.

“Tiger and Dragon Fist!”

The young man let out a great roar. Accompanied by a Sound Wave-like attack that exploded next to Li Xinran’s ears, his figure shot forward like a dragon bursting from the sea or a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.

He lunged suddenly toward Li Xinran.

Li Xinran never expected him to use a Sound Wave-type attack. Her concentration faltered for an instant. Fortunately, all members of the Dongqi Martial Arts Team learned the Mental Tranquility Technique upon joining, making their Divine Souls exceptionally resilient. After a brief hesitation, she snapped out of it.

But in that blink of an eye, his fist was already right in front of her.

Li Xinran had no time to dodge. She could only cross her arms, channeling her Primordial Inner Power to block the blow head-on.

An immense force instantly traveled up her arms, feeling like the impact of a heavy-duty truck. It sent her flying backward.

While still in the air, Li Xinran executed the Flying Swallow Soar. She flipped, tapped her feet against a corner post of the platform to break her momentum, and spun back into the ring.

“Great move, Senior Sister!”

Zhao Rui and the others below the platform burst into cheers.

Li Xinran felt a surge of bitterness. ’What great move? My arms are still trembling.’

The short young man wasted no words. One technique ended and another began. Treading with a profound footwork, his figure seemed to shrink the distance in an instant as he charged at Li Xinran again.

Prepared this time, Li Xinran quickly executed the Mixed Element Palm and engaged him in battle.

“Her Mixed Element Palm hasn’t achieved Yin Yang Balance yet. I’m afraid she won’t be able to withstand such a ferocious fist technique.”

“Yeah, Li Xinran needs to find a way to avoid meeting him head-on. She should use the Flying Swallow Soar to create distance and look for an opening.”

The students below watched Li Xinran’s match on the platform, more invested than if they were fighting themselves.

In the front row of the audience, at the leadership seats, Dean Sun nodded with a smile. “Your student is performing quite well!”

“She still needs more refinement. She can’t compare to your student. I imagine he must be a Seventh-level Peak Martial Artist?”

You don’t slight someone who’s being pleasant. Since Dean Sun had praised his student, it was only proper to return the compliment.

“He’s already a Middle Tier Level 8.”

Dean Sun said with a smile.

Dean Zhang froze, and his expression immediately darkened. When he looked back at the platform, the situation had taken a sudden turn.

Li Xinran, who had been using her Body Technique to maintain a distance of one or two steps, was suddenly cornered.

Her opponent unleashed two rapid-fire combinations. Before Li Xinran could defend, she was sent flying by the brutal assault.

This time, before she could reorient herself in the air, her opponent pressed his advantage, grabbing her by the ankle and slamming her onto the platform floor.

It made a sickening THUD.

The sound echoed clearly throughout the entire Martial Arts Arena.

The crowd below was stunned into silence. The faces of the students from Dongqi University, in particular, turned grim.

Just then, the referee rushed forward, pushed the stocky young man away, and began to count over Li Xinran, who was lying unconscious on the ground.

“What are you counting for!”

Dean Zhang roared in fury and ordered Wang Zhanshan to get on the platform and check Li Xinran’s condition.

“That boy has no sense of propriety! Doesn’t he know to go easy on a girl?”

Dean Sun, standing to the side, said with a helpless and annoyed expression.

“Dean, how was I supposed to know she couldn’t take a hit!”

The stocky young man looked aggrieved upon hearing this. His words only made the expressions of the Dongqi University students darken further.

On the platform, Wang Zhanshan spent a moment transferring his own energy to help stabilize Li Xinran. The medical staff, who had been waiting on standby, also hurried onto the stage.

They placed the groggily conscious Li Xinran onto a stretcher and carried her out of the Martial Arts Arena.

“All of you, be more careful from now on! Don’t be so reckless. We’re sister schools. Are you treating this like a fight to the death?”

Dean Sun cleared his throat and directed a few sharp words at the students of the Dongqi Academy of Arts and Sports.

After the reprimand, he turned back with a smile and said, “Dean Zhang, shall we continue?”

“Yes, continue!”

Dean Zhang agreed, his face dark.

The competition resumed.

The next person to fight was the sophomore boy from Zhao Rui’s group.

Apparently terrified by what had happened to Li Xinran, the student was timid from the moment he stepped on the platform and didn’t dare to make a move.

Once his opponent attacked, he was felled by a leg sweep after blocking only a few techniques.

Watching the outcome, Dean Zhang’s face grew even darker.

Even Wang Zhanshan, standing to the side, looked ashamed and at a loss.

“Brother Wang, get up! Think about how we usually fight! Just pretend he’s me!”

From below, Zhao Rui anxiously shouted to his sophomore teammate on the platform.

As if he had heard Zhao Rui’s voice, the student gritted his teeth during the referee’s count and pushed himself back to his feet.

“Fuck!”

Brother Wang, who was usually quiet and unremarkable, had unexpectedly sworn.

“Zhao Rui, you bastard!”

Brother Wang bellowed and launched into the Bodhisattva Palm Technique, striking at his opponent with a series of bizarre and unorthodox techniques.

“…”

Zhao Rui’s face darkened below the stage. ’I told you to pretend he was me, not to actually curse me!’

Qin Rui and the others, their moods heavy from Li Xinran’s injury, were so amused by this display that they couldn’t help but crack a smile.

’After the second technique of the Prajna Palm, he’s using… this? Why is it different from the standard forms?’

The Dongyi student was about to block when he realized Brother Wang’s technique had shifted into a variation he had never seen before.

Startled, he quickly dodged aside.

Seeing his technique was effective, Brother Wang was inwardly delighted. He quickly began to use the version of the Prajna Palm that he had developed while sparring with Zhao Rui.

Zhao Rui knew the Prajna Palm like the back of his hand. So, when he sparred with the sophomores, he could always anticipate their moves, which often left them flustered and scrambling.

Eventually, they had to rack their brains to come up with bizarre, unorthodox techniques outside the standard forms just to deal with him.

The Prajna Palm itself emphasizes the realm of formlessness, where form is emptiness and emptiness is form.

Over time, this had led them to develop several attacks that deviated from the conventional Prajna Palm.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep