Chapter 42: If You're Weak, You'll Be Trampled
The countdown ended and Zhao Huatai charged, his powerful legs propelling him across the ring as fast as an arrow being shot from a bow. All of the watching students gasped, because he was moving at roughly twenty meters per second.
It only took him two seconds to appear in front of Xiang Ning.
His longsword fell on Xiang Ning, but Xiang Ning was faster and activated Keen Observation. He smiled as he found out that, while he had lower Mental Power, his cultivation as a martial artist was stronger. He easily blocked the attack.
“Vibrating Wave Slash!” Zhao Huatai roared as his longsword stabbed toward Xiang Ning’s chest and multiple waves burst forward.
Xiang Ning coldly snorted and an overwhelming might burst forward from him. “Mountain-Splitting Slash!”
Both Mu Xiao and Zhang Jiasheng’s eyes lit up. While there was some conflict between them, they were each just trying to defend their pride. But now they realized that both Xiang Ning and Zhao Huatai were leagues above their peers.
However, Xiang Ning held the advantage as his Mountain-Splitting Slash was stronger.
Mu Xiao nodded. The Mountain-Splitting Slash was a power-oriented move, and while it was a basic skill, not many people could learn it because it required a lot of physical strength. The fact that Xiang Ning could master it to the Assimilation level showed how much of a genius he was.
While Zhao Huatai was good, he wasn’t a match for Xiang Ning and was forced back from the strike. Xiang Ning stood his ground with both feet planted, immovable as a mountain.
Fury Points +122The first clash had caused everyone’s blood to boil in the stands, and they shouted and cheered at the top of their lungs.
“Zhao Huatai, beat him up!”
“Go Xiang Ning! Let them know the strength of a part-time student!”
“Good luck brother!”
The crowds were split into two factions, but most of them were cheering for Zhao Huatai. Mostly, it was the part-time students that were cheering for Xiang Ning. They were always treated badly in class and couldn’t retaliate, so now that someone this strong was representing them they felt like they could breathe again.
“Damn! How could this be? To think he’s this strong, that he didn’t even move an inch. Is he really a part-time student?” Zhao Huatai was angry. He always thought that he would be the best, even better than the student in Class 1 who was both a tier one, seven-star martial artist and a spirit cultivator. But now he was forced back by a mere part-time student and his face contorted with rage.
Fatty Wang started laughing. “See, there’s nothing to worry about, Xiang Xiaoyu. Your brother will definitely win against Zhao Huatai.”
Xiang Xiaoyu nodded her head. In her eyes, Xiang Ning was akin to a war god.
“Don’t you dare think I’ll surrender!” Zhao Huatai coldly retorted. If Xiang Ning were to have pressed his attack using Triple Slash when Zhao Huatai was forced back, he would have won. But now that he hadn’t, Zhao Huatai thought that Xiang Ning was looking down on him.
Xiang Ning’s lip curled upward as he took the stance for Triple Slash. It was a simple stance, but Zhao Huatai’s hair stood on end as he felt an overwhelming sense of doom.
Mu Xiao couldn’t believe his eyes—was this a self-made martial technique?
Xiang Ning’s leg exploded with force as he propelled himself forward with blinding speed and swung his sword down. “Triple Slash!” Xiang Ning roared as he slashed three times, each with the same power as a Mountain-Splitting Slash.
“Three Mountain-Splitting Slashes?!” Mu Xiao was shaken to his core. Usually, the Triple Slash would be used to close the gap or to gain some distance from one’s opponent. No one knew that it would synergize so well with the Mountain-Splitting Slash. The combined strength of the Mountain-Splitting Slash and the speed of the Triple Slash resulted in an extremely deadly martial technique.
And it wasn’t as simple as that; each slash was stronger than the previous as it built up momentum. The only way to respond was to either dodge, which was hard to achieve due to the speed of the attacks, or directly block it with a stronger attack.
“Triangular Block!” Zhao Huatai shoved his longsword in front of him to block the attack.
The first slash came down and Zhao Huatai felt his palm tearing as blood splattered across the ring. Then the second slash came down and Zhao Huatai’s longsword was blown away by the force. Following that, the third slash came down and Zhao Huatai realized that this was the strongest slash. It felt like it could truly split a mountain.
“Stop!” Zhang Jiasheng shouted and pounced toward Xiang Ning.
“Don’t you dare!” Mu Xiao shouted in response and punched Zhang Jiasheng.
“You crazy bastard!” Zhang Jiasheng turned to block the punch.
A thunderous boom rippled across the arena as two tier five martial artists clashed against each other. The nearby students were in disbelief as they were pushed back by the aftershocks.
Xiang Ning didn’t even look and slashed down toward Zhao Huatai’s shoulder. In a single, brutal slash, Zhao Huatai was forced down to his knees.
Everything had happened so fast that no one managed to process what had happened. When they came back to their senses everyone held their breath.
“Zhao Huatai was too weak to retaliate!”
“Who is Xiang Ning?! How could he be a part-time student?”
Nobody had expected such a result. They scoffed when they heard that a part-time student from Class 8 was going up against Zhao Huatai from Class 2. A part-timer couldn’t possibly be that strong, so how could he win against a genius like Zhao Huatai?
But now everyone felt their cheeks burning.
Xiang Ning stood there and looked down on Zhao Huatai, who couldn’t even muster the strength to stand up.
“So?”
That single word rattled Zhao Huatai’s heart and trampled his pride. He wanted to get up, but the pain from his shoulder almost made him pass out.
Fury Points +233
Fury Points +255
Just as Zhao Huatai gritted his teeth to stand up, Xiang Ning spoke in a cold tone, “You’ve said it before, if you win, you’d break the arm that touched your brother. But if I win, I’ll break the arm of your brother that touched my sister. Now you’ll bear the punishment for your brother!”
“What?!” Zhao Huatai angrily stared at Xiang Ning.
Fury Points +344
“Hmph!” Xiang Ning pushed down his sword and a loud crack was heard as the bones in Zhao Huatai’s shoulder shattered.
A cry was heard across the arena. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
“Huatai!” Zhao Huayu leaped over the arena’s wall and rushed over to his brother, who was grimacing in pain. He looked at Xiang Ning with eyes full of rage and vengeance.
Xiang Ning stared back, and Zhao Huayu cowered like a kitten.
Zhang Jiasheng saw this and angrily roared, “Zhao Huatai already lost, how dare you continue attacking him!”
“If I was the one to lose this time, would you defend me? He wanted to break my arm! If you’re weak, you’ll be trampled!” Xiang Ning's voice boomed across the arena and everyone who heard it quieted down.
‘If you’re weak, you’ll be trampled’.... While they didn’t know what had happened between Xiang Ning and Zhao Huatai, the anger hidden within the words was loud and clear.
Fang Rou was standing on one side of the arena, her eyes flickering.