Chapter 216: Used Too Much Force

Although Zhang Xuan's reputation had not been good before, Lu Xun's gradual rise to his current position relied not only on talent and strength but, more importantly, on his mindset—no matter what happened, he handled it calmly, without any arrogance or pride.

To finalize the list for this competition, he had specifically investigated Zhang Xuan's several students and selected the best opposing lineup from the entire school.

In the investigation, Zheng Yang and Mo Xiao had grown up together and trained in spear techniques together. The latter's talent was clearly superior to the former's, and in countless battles, Mo Xiao had always won, never losing.

Because of this, he had recruited the person from a friend and had him teach the Wang Family Spear.

He thought it was a sure thing, but... before the match even began, he threw away his spear and voluntarily conceded...

Lu Xun felt his whole body trembling, on the verge of going mad.

That Kong Jie earlier—two sentences and he was fooled, knocked out with one punch. I endured that.

At worst, the 600,000 gold coins (3 million split five ways) went down the drain, but you... what's your deal?

I've seen people being unreliable, but never this unreliable!

You know I stayed up all night helping you improve your strength just to win, and now, after your strength is boosted and the money is spent, you just concede without even fighting...

"What's going on?"

"Two True Energy realm students—the first was knocked flying with one punch, and the second just conceded? What the hell?"

Not only Wang Chao and Lu Xun were going crazy; the surrounding students and teachers watching the match all had question marks over their heads, utterly bewildered.

Seeing Teacher Lu bring True Energy realm students, everyone thought it would be a one-sided match, and indeed it was—but leaning the other way...

In fact, not only the crowd, but even Zhang Xuan, the one involved, looked puzzled.

When Mo Xiao and Zheng Yang were about to fight, he was at Master Lu Chen's house and didn't know the two had already sparred privately, so he didn't understand why Mo Xiao conceded before the fight even started.

"The reason I conceded is that a few days ago, we had a private match. Zheng Yang defeated me with just one move! He could have killed me easily if he wanted."

Before Zhao Ya and the others could answer, Mo Xiao's voice rang out from the stage, his tone frank and without any frustration or regret, but rather with a hint of ease.

"I've been thinking these past few days about how to counter it. I thought that by breaking through to the True Energy realm, I could use its powerful strength to overcome it. But I just tried and found I still couldn't withstand it. The techniques Zheng Yang learned from Teacher Zhang reach the true essence of the spear; I'm afraid even if I studied them my whole life, I couldn't understand them, let alone resist them."

"Knowing that continuing the match would only result in being defeated by his spear in one move, it's better to just concede!"

With that, Mo Xiao clasped his hands to his friend and smiled lightly: "Zheng Yang, you have a great teacher—make sure you cherish him!"

After speaking, he picked up his spear, turned, and walked back.

His voice echoed all around, and almost everyone heard it.

"Mo Xiao says that the techniques Teacher Zhang taught can't be cracked even after a lifetime of study?"

"That would mean they're even more powerful than the Wang Family Spear? How is that possible?"

"In a match, he probably wouldn't lie... otherwise, Teacher Lu would beat him to death!"

...

Everyone's eyes went wide.

The Wang Family Spear was too famous in Tianxuan Kingdom; many people could recognize it at a glance, almost the invincible representative of spear techniques.

But now Mo Xiao said it was no match... and everyone exploded.

"It seems Teacher Zhang Xuan isn't as bad as the rumors say; in fact, he's quite formidable!"

"Yeah, out of five matches, he's already won two in a row. Could it be that Teacher Lu is going to lose?"

"No one knows. Hopefully, Teacher Lu can turn things around later..."

...

Amid the surrounding murmurs, Lu Xun on the stage heaved with anger, his face growing greener by the minute.

Damn it, what kind of students did I teach? This isn't how you screw over your teacher.

What did you mean by that last sentence?

Zheng Yang has a great teacher... So you don't have a great teacher?

I spent three million to buy you pills, didn't hesitate to expend my true energy to boost your strength, and this is what I get?

Though furious, he knew this wasn't the time to lose his temper. Once he did, the prestige he had built over years would plummet and collapse completely.

He looked around.

Now there were three left who hadn't competed yet.

Bai Chao, Du Lei, and Zhu Hong.

Bai Chao excelled in fist techniques, specifically countering Liu Yang, who had a problem with the meridians in his right hand.

Du Lei was skilled in leg techniques and extremely fast. Plus, he had taught him a very powerful movement technique, which should be enough to deal with Wang Ying, who had a leg defect.

As for Zhu Hong, he would face Zhao Ying.

After two consecutive losses, the next match had to be won; otherwise, the more matches played, the more embarrassing it would be.

"Du Lei, you go!"

After much deliberation, he decided to send Du Lei.

According to the investigation, Wang Ying had a relatively gentle personality. As long as Du Lei launched a quick attack from the start, she would surely become timid.

Besides, her leg was bad. Even if Du Lei couldn't win, he could safely retreat using his movement technique, avoiding a direct defeat like the previous two matches.

Du Lei nodded and walked onto the competition stage.

"Wang Ying!"

Seeing the opponent's choice, Zhang Xuan also waved his hand.

Wang Ying responded, her pretty face blushing, and stepped forward.

At the main seat.

"Teacher Lu is indeed Teacher Lu. After two consecutive losses, he's already spotted Zhang Xuan's weakness."

Shen Biru frowned, full of worry.

"Weakness? What weakness?" Han Qiong asked, puzzled.

"This Wang Ying is the only daughter of Wang Hong, the patriarch of one of the four great families. She has a gentle personality, is naive, and easily trusts others. Among Teacher Zhang Xuan's five students, she is the easiest to break."

Shen Biru said.

"If that's the case, it is indeed Zhang Xuan's weakness."

Han Qiong nodded.

Cultivators go against the heavens; having too weak a character puts one at a disadvantage in battle.

"Not only that, this Wang Ying was injured when she was young and has a disability in her leg. Normal walking is fine, but once she fights, a defect appears. Patriarch Wang Hong once invited all the famous doctors in the royal city, even Master Yuanyu personally treated her, but in the end, they were all helpless and left in disappointment."

Shen Biru knew Wang Ying's situation in detail: "In other words... this Wang Ying's leg is unfit for battle."

"Ah?"

Han Qiong was taken aback, clearly not expecting this.

"As for this Du Lei, he once studied under Teacher Chen Hong."

"Teacher Chen Hong? The teacher at the academy who specializes in movement techniques?"

"Yes, that's him! Du Lei has the best movement technique among all students, extremely fast. Using such a person to deal with Wang Ying, who has a leg injury—isn't that a weakness?" Shen Biru shook her head as she spoke: "It seems in this match, Wang Ying... is doomed to lose!"

...

"P-please... give me your guidance!"

On stage, Wang Ying's face flushed slightly as she clasped her hands to Du Lei.

"Guidance? Hardly. Let's start if we're going to fight!"

Knowing he bore the heavy responsibility of winning, Du Lei raised his eyebrows, stamped his foot, and charged forward close to the ground.

He was as fast as an arrow released from a bow.

"So fast!"

"Is he really only at Martial Artist third level? Even a fourth level Skin and Bone realm expert isn't this fast!"

"This move is called [Phantom Nine Palace Step], Teacher Lu's signature technique. I can't believe Teacher Lu was generous enough to teach it!"

"Phantom Nine Palace Step? The highest movement technique manual at Hongtian Academy? A skill renowned even in the Tianxuan Kingdom?"

"That's right!"

"I've dreamed of learning this move. If only I could learn it, this Wang Ying would surely be in for a tough fight!"

...

Many students recognized Du Lei's technique and were shocked.

Phantom Nine Palace Step was an extremely powerful footwork technique. Teacher Lu had defeated many strong opponents with this movement technique, and no one expected him to pass it on to Du Lei.

Although Du Lei had only learned the simplest part, it was still more than enough to contend with opponents of the same level.

Not to mention that Wang Ying had a leg defect and was only at the Dantian realm.

Unlike the crowd's shock, seeing Du Lei's rapid approach, Wang Ying bit her lip, twisted her delicate body, and dodged.

"Heh, you can dodge one move, but let's see how many you can dodge!"

Seeing her evade his fast attack, Du Lei was a bit surprised but didn't care. He sneered coldly, his true energy surging, and his speed increased, creating afterimages on the stage.

Phantom Nine Palace Step could produce up to nine afterimages at its fastest, making it hard to distinguish real from fake and impossible to evade, catching one off guard.

Du Lei was still far from nine afterimages, but when fully activated, his figure became blurry and hard to discern.

"Too strong!"

"At that speed, you can't even see the person. How do you fight?"

All the students twitched their mouths, imagining themselves in that situation and shaking their heads.

With their strength, they couldn't even see him—how could they fight?

"Du Lei is sure to win!"

Wang Chao smiled again.

Having been slapped in the face twice in a row, he was starting to develop a psychological shadow. But seeing Du Lei, unlike Kong Jie who was fooled by words and attacked immediately, and unlike Mo Xiao who was unreliable, he finally felt relieved.

A True Energy realm expert going all out against a Dantian realm little girl with a leg problem—if he couldn't win even then, it would be truly embarrassing.

"Yes, at this speed, even if I suppressed my realm to fight, it would be hard to counter, let alone this little girl."

Elder Hong Hao stroked his beard and suddenly smiled slightly: "Look, that Wang Ying is about to make a move..."

Wang Chao looked over and indeed saw Wang Ying lift her right leg, her face hesitant, as if unsure how to attack.

"Haha, against this kind of fast movement technique, she should use hand techniques, since hands are more agile than legs! Her leg is clearly injured, yet she still uses it—what an idiot. No way she'll hit..."

Wang Chao sneered and was about to continue mocking when he saw the girl kick toward the blurry figure before her.

Bang!

Before his mocking smile could fully bloom, Wang Chao saw the blurry figure suddenly stop. Du Lei's face flushed, flew backward more than ten meters, crashed heavily to the ground, and vomited blood in large mouthfuls.

"This Du Lei... I'm sorry, I tried to control it, but I still used too much force..."

Wang Ying flustered, her face full of apology, on the verge of tears from embarrassment.