"Bang!"
Like a kite with its string cut, Chen Feng flew across most of the arena and slammed into the distant energy shield with a muffled crash. Then he slid limply to the ground.
He struggled to get up, but the moment he moved, he spat out another mouthful of blood. His face was as white as paper, his whole body trembling violently, and his eyes were filled with terror and bewilderment.
Defeated?
I, a genius at the First Level of the Martial Master Realm and the owner of an SS-rank Martial Soul, was actually...
Ambushed from behind by a kid at the sixth level of the Warrior Realm...
No, that wasn't a sneak attack!
That was a thunderous strike after he seized an opening!
One move!
Just one exchange, and I lost?!
Below the arena, a deathly silence reigned.
Everyone had turned to stone, their minds blank.
What had just happened?
Swift Wind Wolf Claw!
Merging into the shadows!
A surprise attack from behind!
Both fists breaking through the defense!
Blood spat out as a body flew backward!
It had all happened in the time it took for lightning to flash and flint to spark!
It was too fast for anyone to react!
When they came to their senses, all they saw was Chen Feng, the once-arrogant Martial Master Realm genius, sprawled in the corner of the arena like a dead dog. Meanwhile, Xiao Han, the Sixth Level of the Warrior Realm fighter they had all dismissed, was slowly drawing back his fists in the center of the arena, without a speck of dust on him.
"..."
After a brief, deathly silence, an uproar erupted like a volcano!
"Holy shit!!!"
"What did I just see?! Chen Feng... got taken out in an instant?!"
"One move! It really was just one move?!"
"Sixth level of the Warrior Realm... beat the first level of the Martial Master Realm?! Is he fucking human?!"
"What kind of fist technique was that? The way it broke through his defense was ridiculous!"
"And that movement technique! It was practically a divine skill for assassins!"
"A monster! He's definitely a monster!"
Screams, cries of shock, and sharp intakes of breath joined into a tremendous roar that nearly lifted the roof off the Central Combat Arena!
Those who had been certain Xiao Han would lose, even betting on how many moves Chen Feng would need to win, now felt as though their faces had been slapped raw, red and burning.
Lei Ming's followers were trembling with fear, looking at Xiao Han as though he were a demon god who had crawled out of hell.
Even Chen Feng, a Martial Master Realm fighter, had been taken down in one move. Mocking Xiao Han earlier had been like the god of longevity hanging himself—they must have thought their lives were too long!
The class instructor, Zhou Kai, stood with his mouth hanging open. The light tablet he used to take notes fell from his hand and hit the ground with a sharp clatter, but he didn't even notice.
He rubbed his eyes hard. After confirming that he hadn't seen wrong, he muttered, "A monster... he really is a monster... Class Seven? Is this someone fucking Class Seven can hold on to?"
He was now immensely relieved that he had been quick to turn with the wind and change his attitude in time!
On the arena, Xiao Han glanced at Chen Feng, who was sprawled on the ground. When Chen Feng met his gaze, he shuddered all over and struggled to open his mouth and concede, but his injuries were so severe that all he could produce was a rasping sound.
Xiao Han had no interest in kicking him again. An opponent of this level wasn't even qualified to make him use his Martial Soul True Body.
He turned to the referee, a teacher who was still completely stunned, and said in the same calm tone, "Teacher, can you announce the result now?"
"Huh? Oh! Y-yes!"
The referee jolted back to his senses. Looking at Xiao Han with awe and disbelief, he drew a deep breath and used all his strength to announce, "The winner of this match is—Xiao Han!"
As his voice fell, thunderous applause and cheers erupted throughout the arena once more!
This time, there was no doubt or idle spectacle, only heartfelt astonishment and admiration!
At the sixth level of the Warrior Realm, he had crushed a First Level of the Martial Master Realm genius head-on!
This battle was enough to send shockwaves through the entire first-year class of Imperial Capital Academy!
Xiao Han's name was destined to resound throughout the entire freshman class today!
Under countless fervent, worshipful, and awestruck gazes, Xiao Han himself merely nodded calmly, as though he had done something insignificant. Then he turned and walked off the arena.
The Martial Master Realm didn't seem like much after all.
A thought stirred in his mind as he heard the system notification in his head: he had obtained the [Breakthrough Talisman], and his proficiency in the Annihilation Divine Fist had also risen by a fair amount. The corners of his mouth curved up almost imperceptibly.
Life at Imperial Capital Academy seemed a little more interesting than he had imagined.
Everything that had happened on Arena Three of the Central Combat Arena was like a boulder hurled into a tranquil lake, sending waves sweeping across the entire Imperial Capital Academy at an unimaginable speed.
"Extra! Extra! Xiao Han, an ordinary student from first-year Class Seven, at the sixth level of the Warrior Realm, took down Chen Feng, the First Level of the Martial Master Realm genius from Class Three, in one move!"
"Is that true? An instant victory across a whole major realm? And against Chen Feng with his SS-rank Martial Soul?!"
"There's a video! It's spreading like crazy on the internal forums! That movement technique was inhuman—he merged right into a shadow to launch a sneak attack! And those fists made Chen Feng's protective aura look like it was made of paper!"
"Holy shit! That's a student from an ordinary class? You've got to be kidding! With that kind of strength, he'd be good enough for the core class, wouldn't he?"
"Class Seven... that legendary retirement class? What kind of monster did they get this year?"
"A perfect score in theory, heaven-defying performance in combat... just where did this Xiao Han come from?"
The academy's communication channels, forums, and rumor groups were instantly flooded with the name "Xiao Han."
Countless freshmen and upperclassmen, and even some instructors, were stirred by the news.
A Warrior Realm fighter defeating a Martial Master Realm fighter wasn't entirely unheard of, but doing it so cleanly in a single move, and as a freshman who had just enrolled, was explosive news.
In particular, Xiao Han's bizarre movement technique and terrifyingly powerful fist technique sparked countless speculations and discussions.
Many curious people began digging into Xiao Han's background, but apart from basic information such as "first in theory at Beihai No. 1 High School" and "two F-rank Martial Souls" (this was old information; the new information had yet to spread widely),
they found nothing, adding to his air of mystery.
Zhou Kai, Class Seven's temporary instructor, was standing at the edge of the training ground, watching the medical staff scramble to carry the unconscious Chen Feng away.
He glanced at Xiao Han in the distance, who had returned to his calm demeanor as though nothing had happened, and felt his worldview had been shaken just a tiny bit.
With trembling hands, he opened his communicator and took the complete battle video he had just recorded.
He sent it to the Martial Arts Institute's academic affairs office along with his extremely cautiously worded report, which praised Xiao Han as though there were no one like him in heaven or on earth.
He knew that an "abnormality" like Xiao Han was far beyond what an ordinary class instructor like him could handle.
He had to report this!
Inside a standalone tower floating above the clouds at Imperial Capital Academy.
This was one of the office areas used by figures in the academy's core leadership, and the spiritual energy was so dense it had almost taken material form.
Clouds rolled and drifted outside the window, with a view overlooking the vast academy complex below, like the perspective of a deity.
Inside a spacious, brightly lit office, simply furnished yet extraordinary in every detail.
Lin Qingxia sat upright behind a desk made of an unknown type of jade, reviewing the information that had just been transmitted to the light screen.