An Old Enemy

"So, the so-called superpower is actually just the release of a small portion of the influence of strong nuclear force?"

After reading the intelligence, Si Ming became even more interested in the confrontation with the International Union Academy.

Chapter 778 Old Enemy

When Si Ming arrived at Earth Emperor University, he immediately noticed that the number of people on campus was several times greater than the last time he came. The ten-lane main road behind the school gate was bustling with people, and there were also directional signs and service volunteers on both sides of the road. Although it was not so crowded that people were shoulder to shoulder, it was not spacious at all.

Clearly, these people were all spectators watching the Martial Dao League. The ticket revenue alone made Earth Emperor University a fortune, which is why various regions are so eager to obtain the hosting rights. In addition to the rights of the host, there are also substantial economic benefits, so they are willing to accept any impact on the teaching environment.

After their identities were verified, Si Ming and Murong Qing entered the athletes' lounge and met the members of the Second Martial Arts Club.

"You two arrived just in time. There's only an hour left before the competition starts, and it's our turn to play in the first match. Luckily, I put both of your names on the roster. So, are you resting or playing today?" Ke Chajing asked.

Si Ming noticed the change in the other person's tone and asked, "Are you injured?"

"It's not just me, most people are injured. After all, this is the National Martial Dao League, where all the young talents gather. It's normal for there to be hidden masters. Even the weaker teams are likely to have one or two geniuses," Ke Chajing said dismissively.

Hu Jixian sighed, "Normally, when facing a weak team's ace player, they would hold back to avoid getting injured. After all, losing one game doesn't affect the final outcome. But this guy insists on going all out, saying he wants to show the spirit of a martial artist. As a result, the injury situation this time is even more serious than last year. Last year, although there were some losses when we reached the quarterfinals, not everyone was injured."

Caught off guard, Ke Chajing retorted angrily, "Stop your nonsense! As martial artists, especially in a ring competition, you should defeat your opponents fair and square. Showing your full strength is the only way to respect them. Last year, our overall strength was lacking, so we had no choice but to adopt a strategy of avoiding the strong and attacking the weak. But this year, with our strength, we are enough to dominate with the right path, so there's no need to resort to underhanded tactics."

Although the two had become a couple, Hu Jixian his duty firmly in mind and did not show favoritism. He habitually poured cold water on their relationship, saying, "Arrogance is the worst thing in martial arts. Your idea is precisely a sign of disrespect for your opponent. A true all-out effort should include tactics. Your actions are tantamount to saying, 'I don't need to use my brain to deal with you.' What kind of respect is that? If I were your opponent, I would only feel that this is a great insult."

"Who said we don't need brains! Do you fight without using your brain? Are you just going to go up there and throw a bunch of wild punches? I don't care how you arrange the order of appearance, but being cowardly before the battle is absolutely unacceptable. Tactics and trickery are two different things. I'm not a mindless person. If we can't win the championship this year, I have no objection to using every means to improve our ranking. But we could have won the championship this year, so we shouldn't leave any stains for others to criticize. We should win fair and square, leaving no room for blame."

"Thinking that the championship is already theirs is the greatest arrogance. You must know that anything can happen on the battlefield. The strongest team may not necessarily have the last laugh. Besides, if someone wants to smear you, they can find fault even if you have no flaws. Even if you are a pure white lotus, it won't help. How can you defend yourself against a fabricated charge?"

"The kind of person you're talking about is a shameless scoundrel, someone who only talks behind people's backs and doesn't dare to confront them directly. Of course, I wouldn't bother with such a person. As long as we can shut up the mouths of gentlemen and ordinary people, that's enough." Ke Chajing snorted and patted Si Ming and Murong Qing on the shoulders. "The most important thing is that I'm not being arrogant, but rather I have confidence in my teammates. If those two can guarantee victory in two singles matches, do the rest of us not even have the confidence to win one?"

Chen Shimi snorted twice and chimed in, "Let them come. I'll show them what the limits of humanity are."

Si Ming glanced at the other person's left hand, which was wrapped in bandages and seemed to still smell strongly of ointment, and asked, "What happened to you?"

Nie Wanzhi chuckled, "He unleashed the power of the Dragon Devil and defeated his opponent with a single punch, but he was also injured in the process. I didn't witness the limits of humanity, but his limits were clearly demonstrated: injuring the enemy a thousand, but also losing eight hundred of his own... cough cough..."

"You've also suffered internal injuries!" Si Ming exclaimed in surprise. "Didn't you cultivate the Golden Bell Cover? How come you're injured too?"

Nie Wanzhi lowered her head and said, "I was careless during the last match against the Nine Bends Martial Arts School. I could have dodged it, but I was too eager to win and thought that I had the Golden Bell Cover Shield to protect me, so I didn't dodge. As a result, I was hit by my opponent's Yin Wind Weeping Moon Palm. This palm force is very strange. It can actually penetrate the Golden Bell Cover and strike the internal organs directly. Fortunately, the power was weakened by 70%, so the injury was not serious."

Si Ming reached out to take the other person's pulse, and after a while frowned and said, "The residual energy is lingering in the lungs, and the energy is extremely insidious and difficult to neutralize."

Nie Wanzhi said dejectedly, "Can't you do it either?"

The coach had initially suggested she withdraw from the competition to recover from her injury, but she thought that Si Ming and Murong Qing and might be able to help her recover so she could continue participating in the remaining matches. Therefore, she didn't agree. After all, they had a good chance of winning the championship this year, and no one wanted to miss out. To outsiders, winning a championship as a substitute seemed very lucky, and they would love to take her place. But if they could compete, who would want to miss out?

"With my skill, I could forcibly remove it, but doing so would temporarily worsen your injuries. Normally, you could simply rest for a while and at least be free of worries, but since you want to continue fighting, you can't be so reckless. You should find Si Jingyu; she's particularly adept at this type of force and should be able to easily neutralize it."

Si Ming turned to Si Shuiyun and said, "Try contacting your young lady; you should know how to get in touch with her."

"Should I go now?"

"The match is about to start, let's wait until after it's over. There's no rush. Nie shouldn't participate in this match, lest his injury worsen."

Si Ming looked around and saw that Tai Gu, Jiang Tingting and others were also injured, as were Wang Jinchao and Zeng Aniu, who were substitutes. In fact, their injuries were more serious. The latter's arm was in a cast. It seemed that he cherished the opportunity to play, so he played even harder after coming on. Substitutes generally have a similar mentality. They try their best to perform when they have the chance in the early stages, since they won't have a chance to play in the later stages anyway.

Of the entire group, only Liu Qingqing and Si Shuiyun were in good condition. Even if they were injured, it was only superficial and would not affect their performance. Considering that their fighting style mainly involved dodging, it was not surprising.

"I also bear some responsibility for this. If the squad leader and I had arrived earlier, everyone wouldn't be injured."

Si Ming felt guilty. While he was enjoying himself in the rear, his teammates were fighting desperately on the front lines. It was indeed a bit unreasonable. Moreover, he felt that he had underestimated the heroes of the world. A weak team might not be able to rely on one or two geniuses to turn the tide of the battle, but it was not difficult to injure the opponent. After several rounds, it was easy for all of them to be injured.

"Alright, today the class monitor and I will be in charge of the first and third matches, and you guys can send two more people to participate in the second doubles match... Let's just have Qingqing and Shuiyun, and we'll try to get three consecutive wins, finish this quickly, and give everyone more time to rest."

No one objected. Tai Gu, Jiang Tingting, and the others were unaware of Si Ming's true strength. Although they felt that he was being too boastful, since everyone else agreed, they thought about it and didn't object. Their teammate was indeed a hidden master, which would only benefit them. Why should they jump out and become annoying? It's not like they practiced shamelessness and needed to be slapped in the face to hone their skills.

A moment later, the referee from the organizers came to announce that the match was about to begin. Except for Zeng Aniu and Wang Jinchao, who were not on the roster and needed to go to the audience seats, everyone else got up and entered the venue.

As soon as I stepped out of the entrance, I was greeted by a deafening roar. Looking up, I saw that all 30,000 seats were occupied, including 5,000 people from Linked Mountains City. When their support team came out, they all shouted in unison, a mix of various slogans. There were even a dozen pretty girls who came to the front row of the audience and started dancing. Their fair skin and long legs were quite eye-catching.

"It's so lively! In this kind of atmosphere, I instantly feel my blood boiling. No wonder the players can't hold back; they can easily injure someone."

As Si Ming was sighing, he suddenly noticed a hateful gaze. When he followed the gaze, he saw a boy staring at him fiercely, making no attempt to hide his malice, and showing no intention of turning away even after being discovered.

"I've crawled back from hell. Just wait, I'll repay you a hundredfold for the humiliation you inflicted on me back then."

He heard the other party's Secret Voice Transmission in his ear.

Si Ming's eyes widened suddenly, as if he had remembered something. He stared intently at the other person, his mouth agape as he exclaimed in realization, "Oh, oh, oh—you're... you're that... that... who are you anyway? Are we that close? Why do you look like you've seen your father's killer? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"

The boy choked for a moment, then his face flushed red as if he had been humiliated. He gathered his strength, as if he was about to make a move, but was stopped by the instructor in charge and forcibly pulled back.

"Just you wait, I'll make you pay for your arrogance!"

Only after the person was pulled into the entrance tunnel did Si Ming ask Ke Chajing suspiciously, "Who is this person? He's acting all familiar, it's so strange... Speaking of which, I still don't know who our opponent is in the next match."

"Our next opponent is the Kunlun Martial Alliance, a team comprised of multiple sects. However, the person we just saw wasn't from the Kunlun Martial Alliance. Judging from where he came in and out, he should be from the International Union Academy. After we finish our match against the Kunlun Martial Alliance, it will be their turn."

Si Ming stroked his chin and said, "It's International Union Academy again. They've been making quite a splash lately."

Murong Qing couldn't help but ask, "You really can't remember who that person is?"

"What, do you know them?"

"Sigh, as expected, the victors don't remember the faces of the losers; only the losers remember their enemies." Murong Qing sighed, then continued, "It's Lian Buqi. Although his appearance has changed and he's grown quite a bit taller, it's definitely him. I won't mistake him."

The name sounded vaguely familiar to Si Ming. After searching through his memory database for a while, he remembered that the other person was a contestant in the Youth Martial Arts Tournament. After winning, he severely injured Ying Zhou and then defeated Murong Qing. He was arrogant and domineering, and liked to spout nonsense such as "the strong prey on the weak." In the end, he was beaten up by Si Ming and taught a lesson. Si Ming was also disqualified from the competition because of the private fight.

"To be honest, it was because of my fight with him that I strengthened my Martial Dao Will. I have to thank him for the valuable experience he provided. However, it was also from that time on that I developed a curse that always leads to accidents when I participate in competitions. Maybe it's that kid's Curse."